17 February 2021
SA Health is preparing to receive the first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and is planning to start vaccinating priority groups in Phase 1a from Monday.
These groups include front-line at-risk health care workers, including ICU and ED staff, clinical and ancillary support staff as well as aged care and disability care staff and residents.
It is expected that doses of the vaccine will be limited in the first few weeks, so work is underway to prioritise the groups in Phase 1a and determine the order of vaccination within these groups.
In addition, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has granted provisional approval to AstraZeneca Pty Ltd for its COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second COVID-19 vaccine to receive regulatory approval in Australia. The first priority groups in Australia will begin receiving the vaccine in early March.
Public hospitals throughout the State will be involved in the distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations, ensuring that all South Australians have access to the vaccine. The primary vaccination hub at the RAH will be the major hub open initially.
For more comprehensive information about the Pfizer rollout please go to the link
(here).
While the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to prevent COVID-19, it is not yet known whether it stops transmission or asymptomatic disease, a TGA statement said.
Further, while elderly patients over 65 have demonstrated a strong immune response to the vaccine in clinical trials, there was insufficient numbers of participants infected by COVID-19 to determine efficacy in this group. Reassuringly, there were no safety concerns reported among this group in clinical studies.
It is anticipated both vaccines will be effective against the newer strains of COVID-19.
The National Coronavirus Helpline is the front door for all vaccine enquiries for the community and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1800 020 080.